Hanger stem



Nov. 25, 1969 c. E. GINGHER 3,480,245

HANGER STEM Filed Oct. 12, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR CARL E. GINGHER Nov. 25, 1969 c, E, GINGHER 3,480,245

HANGER STEM E iled Oct. 12, 1.967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR CARL E. GINGHER United States Patent 3,480,245 HANGER STEM Carl E. Gingher, 304-328 Depot St., Scranton, Pa. 18509 Filed Oct. 12, 1967, Ser. No. 674,951

Int. Cl. E04g 17/18; A47j 51/08 US. Cl. 248317 21 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clothes hanger having a hanger stem comprising an elongated member upstanding from the clothes hanger and opposed parallel faces on at least a portion of the stern. There are opposed hemispherical protrusions on the parallel faces. The hanger stem may be supported from an angular member having a slot therein with vertical and horizontal portions and an enlarged opening at the upper end of the vertical slot portion with the width of the slot being such to closely receive the opposed parallel faces so that the protrusions which pass through the enlarged opening rest upon the edges of the horizontal slot portion to support the clothes hanger therefrom.

The present invention relates to clothes hangers of the type having a supporting bar upon which a garment may be hung with there being a hanger stem upstanding from the supporting bar, more particularly, to the hanger stem which is constructed to be suspended from a correspondingly shaped support.

A form of clothes hanger which is commonly used comprises a curved shoulder bar upon which a coat or jacket may be hung and a cross-bar interconnecting the downwardly turned ends of the shoulder bar. Upstanding from the shoulder bar is a hanger stem on the end of which may be provided a hook for suspending the clothes hanger upon a horizontal bar. When hangers having such a hook stem are employed in hotels, motels and other places of a public nature, many of these hangers are lost since they are removed for use elsewhere with the conventional horizontal supporting bar. Many attempts have thus been made to devise clothes hangers which are either pilferproof or which can only be used with particular shaped supports which are unlikely to be found in the home. Various shapes of ball and T hanger stems have been employed with these shaped stems being received in correspondingly shaped supporting elements. However, such known arrangements have been generally unsatisfactory for a wide variety of reasons. One disadvantage is that one form of T-stem cannot be inserted into its corresponding support from the front but from the side. This requires a spacing of garments already hung in order to provide sufficient access space to hang the T-stem from its support. Also, the capacity of garments on a rack employing such side-loading supporting devices is limited. 7

Another disadvantage is that most of these T and ball shaped stems are pivotally suspended from their corresponding support devices with the result that the clothes hangers are, also, pivotable about a vertical axis.

An additional disadvantage is that the supports for such particulate ball or T-stem hangers will not accommodate the conventional hook stem. This is particularly undesirable in hotels and motels where the traveler may already have his garments on clothes hangers having a conventional hook stern. However, he cannot suspend his hook stem clothes hangers from the specialized supports found in the hotel or motel. He must, therefore, transfer his garments from his own hangers to the hangers found in the hotel or motel room which is inevitably a source of great irritation and inconvenience.

It is therefore the principal object of the present in- 3,480,245 Patented Nov. 25, 1969 ICE vention to provide a novel and improved supporting stem for a clothes hanger.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a clothes hanger having a hanger stem which can only be supported from a particular shaped supporting element but where the supporting element can accommodate conventional hook stem hangers.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a clothes hanger having a supporting stern which can be readily suspended from a horizontal slot and the hanger will not pivot about a vertical axis when it is suspended.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved arrangement for supporting a clothes hanger.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a clothes hanger having a particular shaped hanger stern adapted for support from a correspondingly shaped supporting element.

In order to attain the objects of the present invention and to eleminate the disadvantages of previous-known hangers, there is provideda clothes hanger having a hanger stem which essentially comprises a pair of opposed parallel surfaces with protrusions on the surfaces. The

hanger stern may comprise an elongated member upstand ing from the shoulder or supporting bar of the clothes hanger. At least a portion of the elongated member is provided with parallel opposed faces which are also parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hanger supporting bar. The opposed parallel surfaces may extend the entire length of the elongated strip and the strip may be of a uniform width and thickness. Protr usions may be provided on one or both opposed faces and may be opposed from each other or at varying distances from the end of the strip which is attached to the supporting bar. The attaching end of the strip is provided with a block having recesses in its opposed faces with the block being closely received in an opening formed in the hanger supporting bar. A flange is attached to the bottom of the block and engages the undersurface of the supporting bar surrounding the opening. Tabs may be provided on the upper surface of the supporting bar to lockingly engage the recesses in the faces of the block.

The strip may be made of a resilient plastic, metal or any other suitable material. Where the strip is made of metal, the strip may be resiliently attached to the supporting bar.

The hanger stem disclosed herein may be readily supported from a support member comprising an angle having a slot therein with interconnected vertical and horizontal portions. The width of the slot is only slightly greater than the width of the opposed parallel faces of the stem so as to closely receive the opposed faces therein. An enlarged opening is provided at the upper end of the vertical slot to accommodate the protrusions on the parallel faces of the stem. The protruding means will rest on the edges of the horizontal slot to support the hanger from this supporting element.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon reference to the accompanying description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an overall perspective view showing a portion of a clothes hanger incorporating the hanger stem of the present invention and the supporting element for receiving the hanger stem;

' FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an overall perspective view in enlarged scale of the hanger stem according to the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the hanger stem shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view similar to that of FIGURE 1 but showing a modified stem wherein the protrusions are on different positions on their respective opposed faces and a correspondingly slotted supporting member;

FIGURE 6 is an elevational view of the modification of the hanger stem;

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view of a further modification of the hanger stem;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of FIGURE 7;

FIGURES 9 and 10 are elevational views of additional modifications of hanger stems resiliently mounted on the hanger with portions of the hanger supporting bar being cut away; and

FIGURE 11 is a front elevational view of another form of a slotted support opening and showing the hanger stem of the present invention being supported therein.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicate the same parts throughout the various views a specific embodiment and several modifications of the present invention will be described in detail.

In FIGURE 1 there is illustrated generally at 10 a clothes hanger incorporating a hanger stem 11 in accordance with the present invention and a supporting structure, indicated generally at 12, for receiving hanger stem 11.

The clothes hanger 10 comprises a shoulder bar 13 which may have an inverted U cross-section as shown in FIGURE 2 and downwardly turned ends 14 and 15 between which may be secured a cross-bar 16. The shoulder bar 13 is suitably shaped so that a garment in the form of a jacket or coat may be hung thereon. The shoulder bar 13 may be formed of metal, plastic or some other suitable material.

At approximately the mid-point of the shoulder bar 13 there is formed a rectangular opening 17 with upstanding tabs 18 and 19. Received in the opening 17 is the hanger stem 11 which will be described in detail and is illustrated with greater clarity in FIGURES 3 and 4. The stem 11 may be formed from an elongated strip of synthetic plastic material and has flat opposed parallel surfaces 20 and 21 extending between a lower end 22 and an upper end 23. A pair of opposed hemispherical protrusions or nibs 24 are located on each of the opposed parallel faces spaced downwardly from the upper end 23 of the stem. These protuberances are directly opposed from each other as may be seen in FIGURE 2 but may be located at different distances from the lower end of the stern as shown in the modification of FIGURE 5. The stem is formed with a uniform thickness T and a uniform width W. By way of example, one embodiment of this stem has a thickness T of 0.088 inch and a width W of about 0.500 inch.

The stem may be formed from any number of suitable synthetic plastic materials, such as, for example, Polyallomer. The stem may be of a color to harmonize or contrast with the color of the clothes hanger and, if desired, may have a fungicide or a scent, such as pine, cedar and the like intermixed with the plastic or otherwise applied thereto.

Attached to the lower end 22 of the stem is a block 25 having opposed faces 26 and 27 with recesses 28 therein. The width of the block is the same as the width of the stem as may be seen in FIGURE 4 but the thickness is somewhat greater so that the block will be closely received in the opening 17 in the supporting bar of the hanger. On the bottom surface of block 25 there is provided a flange 29 which engages the undersurface of the supporting bar surrounding opening 17 when the stem is mounted as shown in FIGURE 2.

When the stem is made of a synthetic plastic material, it may be molded to shape so that all of the above-described components may form an integral unit.

As may be seen in FIGURE 2, the distance indicated at 30 between the bottoms of the recesses 28 is substantially equal to the thickness T of the strip so that, in effect, the thickness of the stem is uniform from its upper end to the bottom flange 29.

The block 25 is dimensioned to be snugly received in the bar opening 17 when the hanger stem is assembled in the hanger supporting bar in the manner as shown in FIGURE 2. The bottom flange 29 bears against the undersurface of the supporting bar 13 surrounding the opening 17 to prevent axial movement of the stem outwardly of the supporting bar. In addition, the tabs 18 and 19 upstanding from the edges of the opening 17 engage the upper edges 31 of the recesses 28 as shown in FIGURE 2 to lock the stem in position. The result is a rigid assembly of hanger stem and hanger supporting bar.

The plastic material from which the hanger stem is molded may be of the type that returns to its original position after deformation. As a result, the hangers Will always hang in their original positions from the supporting bar even though the hangers may be twisted out of position when garments are placed on or removed from the hangers.

The hanger stem 11 as described above may be used with the support structure 12 as shown in FIGURE 1.

The support 12 may be formed as an elongated hanger support bar 32, only a portion of which is illustrated in FIGURE 1, which has a vertical face 33 and a horizontal face 34. Face or flange 34 may also be inclined upwardly so as to form an acute angle with the vertical face 33. The horizontal face may be inclined at an angle of about 25-375 degrees with the horizontal. While not shown in the drawing a flange or some other structure may be provided on or near the upper edge of vertical face 33 to permit mounting of the supporting bar 32 onto a wardrobe rack or some other suitable structure.

The supporting bar is angle-shaped and may be provided with a slot 35 having a vertical portion 36 and a substantially horizontal portion 37 in the respective ver tical and horizontal faces 33 and 34. In addition, one or more enlargements 38 may be provided in vertical slot portion 36.

The area surrounding vertical slot portion 36 is provided with inwardly inclined surfaces 39 to depress the vertical slot portion as illustrated in FIGURE 1. The inclined surfaces 39 of this depressed area facilitate and guide the insertion of the hanger stem 11 into the vertical portion of the slot, The enlargements 38 will accommodate the protrusions 24 and the width of the slot is only slightly greater (about 0.019 inch for the above embodiment) than the thickness of the hanger stern. When the hanger stem 11 and its protrusions 24 are inserted through enlargements 38 and vertical slot portion 36, the stem is lowered until the protrusions rest on the edges of the inclined or horizontal slot portion 36. The hanger will then be supported from the support bar 32 and the close positioning of the key-like hanger stem 11 in horizontal slot portion 37 will prevent pivoting of the hanger 10 about a vertical axis. The incline of flange 34 will also cause the protrusions to rest against the rear surface of vertical face 33. The suspended stem will then be free to swing upwardly to a greater extent than when the face 34 is at right angles to vertical face 33. Thus, when a plurality of such hangers are positioned in a plurality of supporting structures 12, the hangers will all remain parallel to each other and substantially at right angles to the vertical face 33.

It will be apparent that the opposed enlargements 38 on the vertical slot 36 of the support bar 32 can only accommodate those hanger stems having opposed protrusions 24 as illustrated in FIGURES 1-4. However, the enlargements 38 may be arranged to correspond to other spacings of the protrusions in the manner as illustrated in FIGURE 5. In this manner, support bars having protrusions such as at 40 in FIGURE 5 can accommodate only those hanger stems 41 having protrusions 24' spaced in a corresponding manner on the opposed parallel faces. With such a coding arrangement it will be apparent that hangers of a particular spacing of protrusions can be received only in the correspondingly shaped support members This arrangement would be useful in large organizations having a number of departments or otfices where it is desired that the hangers be kept in their respective otfices or department.

"In a modification of FIGURE 6, there is provided a hanger stem 50 with opposed parallel faces 51 which extend over only a portion of the length of the stem. The end of the stern indicated at 52 will protrude beyond the opposed parallel faces and will correspond to the protrusions 24 as described above.

In FIGURES 7 and 8 there is illustrated a modified stem 60 which is formed of metal folded along the line 61 so as to form two plys 62 and 63 as shown in FIGURE 8. The lower portion of the stem is bowed outwardly as shown in 64 so as to be received within an opening 65 formed in the hanger support bar 13. The ends of the plys are folded over at 66 to engage the undersurface of the supporting bar and tabs 67 are formed and are bent upwardly as shown in FIGURE 8 and maintain the bowed portion 64 in contact with the edges of opening 65.

In FIGURES 9 and there is illustrated a modified hanger stem 70 which has parallel opposed faces 71 over only a portion thereof, but the stem is resiliently mounted to the supporting bar 13 of the clothes hanger by means of a spring 72 mounted between an end flange 73 on the stern and the underside 74 of the supporting bar surrounding an opening 75 through which the stem 70 projects.

In FIGURE 10 the hanger stem 80 is resiliently mounted to the supporting bar by means of a spring 81 which is positioned on the upper surface of the supporting bar in the manner as shown in FIGURE 10. The spring is positioned between a flange 82 formed on the stem but urged against the upper surface of the supporting bar 13.

In FIGURE 11 there is shown a hanger Support arrangement indicated generally at 90 which not only can accommodate the keyed hanger stem disclosed above, but the conventional hanger hook commonly found on clothes hangers. The supporting arrangement may similarly be formed in a horizontally disposed hanger supporting bar, only a portion of which is illustrated in FIGURE 11, and comprises a vertical face 91 and a horizontal face 92 in which there is formed a slot 93 having a vertical portion 94 and a horizontal portion 95. Communicating with the upper end of vertical slot portion 94, is a V-shaped opening 96 whose apex terminates at the top of vertical slot 94. The V-shaped opening 96 accommodates the protrusions 24 when the stem is being positioned :on this supporting bar and the protrusions rest on the edges of horizontal slot portion 95 as shown in FIGURE 11 when the hanger is suspended from this support bar.

Thus it can be seen that the present invention discloses a keyed hanger stem for a clothes hanger where the stem is supported from a horizontally disposed slot only slightly wider than the thickness of the stem. The stem may be formed of a flexible durable synthetic plastic material and is resilient or may be formed of a rigid material such as metal. Further, the stern may be rigidly mounted in the clothes hanger or may be resiliently mounted therein by means of springs so as to absorb shocks imparted to the hanger when the hanger is suspended from a support device. The hanger stem can be readily mounted in the sup porting bar of a clothes hanger and may be so shaped so as to be used only with a correspondingly shaped supporting device having, for example, either a V-shaped opening or enlargements in the vertical slot to accommodate the protrusions on the parallel opposed faces of the stem.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions.

What is claimed is:

1. A clothes hanger comprising a supporting bar for hanging a garment therefrom, an elongated member having one end attached to said bar and upstanding therefrom, at least a portion of said member having opposed parallel faces, and means on said member protruding out- 'wardly of one of said opposed parallel faces and at least adjoining said one face with at least a portion of said one face being between said protrusion means and the attached end of said elongated member.

2. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1 wherein said opposed faces are parallel to the longitudinal axis of said supporting bar.

3. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1 with said opposed parallel faces being at the other end of said elongated member, said protrusion means being on both of said opposed faces.

4. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 1 with there being a non-circular opening in said supporting bar, a block on said one end of said elongated member closely and non-rotatably received in said bar opening, and a flange on said block engageable with the undersurface of said bar surrounding said opening to retain said member therein.

5. A clothes hanger as claimed in claim 4 with said block being substantially rectangular and having opposed faces and there being recesses in said faces, and tab means on said bar opening engageable with said block recesses to lock said elongated member within said opening.

6. A stem for suspending a clothes hanger from a support, and comprising an elongated member having one end for attaching to a hanger so as to be upstanding therefrom, at least a portion of said member having opposed parallel faces, and means on said member protruding outwardly of one of said opposed parallel faces and at least adjoining said one face with at least a portion of said one face being between said protrusion means and the attaching end of said elongated member.

7. A hanger stem as claimed in claim '6 with said opposed parallel faces extending the length of said elongated member.

8. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 6 with said protrusion means being on said one opposed face.

9. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 6 with said protrusion means being hemispherical.

10. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 6 with said protrusion means being on both opposed faces and opposed from each other.

11. A hanger stern as claimed in claim 6 with said protrusion means being on both opposed faces and at different distances from said one end of the elongated member.

12. A hanger stern as claimed in claim 7 with each face having a substantially rectangular configuration.

13. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 7 with said protrusion means spaced from the other end of said elongated member.

14. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 7 with said elongated member having a uniform Width and thickness.

15. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 6 with said elongated member being of a resilient material.

16. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 15 with said elongated member being made from a synthetic plastic.

17. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 7 and further comprising means on said one end of said elongated strip for defining a block having the same Width as said strip but with a greater thickness.

18. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 17 with there being recesses in the opposed faces of said block.

19. A hanger stern as claimed in claim 17 and further comprising means on the bottom face of said block for defining a flange therearound.

20. A hanger stem as claimed in claim 18 with the thickness of the strip between the opposed faces thereof being the same as the distance between the bottoms of said recesses.

21. In a clothes support arrangement, the combination of a clothes hanger having an elongated member upstanding therefrom, at least a portion of said member having opposed parallel faces, said elongated member having means protruding outwardly of one of said faces and at least adjoining said one face with at least a portion of said one face being between said protrusion means and the attached end of said elongated member, means defining a slot having vertical and horizontal portions with said slot having a width slightly greater than the thickness between said opposed faces to receive the same therein, there being an enlarged opening communicating with the upper end of said vertical slot portion to accommodate said protrusion means so that the protrusion means rests upon an edge of the horizontal slot portion to support the hanger therefrom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,833,010 5/1958 Rosenthal 2483 17 X FOREIGN PATENTS 755,742 8/ 195 6 Great Britain. 837,179 6/1960 Great Britain. 487,676 12/1953 Italy. 170,349 2/ 1960 Sweden. 265,154 2/1950 Switzerland.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner I. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

